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Bath
Long known as the "City of Ships," Bath, Maine finds its soul and identity in shipbuilding. From its architecture and cultural offerings to its urban downtown, Bath's shipbuilding roots define its character. History Abenaki Indians called the area Sagadahoc, meaning "mouth of big river." It was a reference to the Kennebec river, which Samuel de Champlain explored in 1605. Popham Colony was established in 1607 downstream, together with Fort St. George. The settlement would fail due to a lack of leadership and harsh weather, but the colonists built the first oceangoing vessel constructed by English shipwrights in the New World, the Virginia of Sagadahoc. It provided them passage back to England. The next settlement at Sagadahoc was about 1660, when land titles were purchased from an Indian sagamore known as Robinhood. Incorporated as part of Georgetown in 1753, Bath was set off and incorporated as a town on February 17, 1781. It was named by the postmaster, Dummer Sewell, after Bath in Somerset, England. In 1844, a portion of the town was set off to create West Bath. On June 14, 1847, Bath was incorporated as a city, and in 1854 designated county seat. Land would be annexed from West Bath in 1855. Several industries developed in the city, including the manufacture of lumber, iron and brass, with trade in ice and coal. But Bath is renowned for shipbuilding, which began here in 1743 when Jonathan Philbrook and his sons built 2 vessels. Since then, roughly 5,000 vessels have been launched in the area, which at one time had more than 200 shipbuilding firms. Bath became the nation's fifth largest seaport by the mid-1800s, producing clipper ships which sailed to ports around the world. The last commercial enterprise to build wooden ships in the city was the Percy & Small Shipyard, which was acquired for preservation in 1971 by the Maine Maritime Museum. But the most famous shipyard is the Bath Iron Works, founded in 1884 by Thomas W. Hyde. It has built hundreds of wooden and steel vessels, mostly warships for the U.S. Navy. During World War II, Bath Iron Works launched a new ship every 17 days. The shipyard is a major regional employer, and operates today as a division of the General Dynamics Corporation. The city is noted for fine Federal, Greek Revival, and Italianate architecture, including the 1858 Custom House and Post Office designed by Ammi B. Young. Bath is sister city to Shariki (now Tsugaru) in Japan, where the locally-built full rigged ship Cheseborough was wrecked in 1889. Scenes from the movies Message in a Bottle (1999) and The Man Without a Face (1993) were filmed in the city. Location The City of Bath is located on the Kennebec River in southwestern coastal Maine and is centered in the heart of Midcoast Maine. It is the hub of the region including Bath, West Bath, Phippsburg, Woolwich, Arrowsic and Georgetown. This scenic town is named for Bath, England and is the epitome of Maine's seagoing heritage. Bath serves as an employment and service center hub for a much larger region of southern Maine. All Southern Maine communities are easily accessible to Bath via the Route 1/I-95 corridor system, as well as many other primary state route systems. Geography Bath offers a unique geographic experience not available anywhere else in Maine. Bath is adjacent to two of the most important ecological systems in Maine (and the Gulf of Maine); the Kennebec River and Merrymeeting Bay. The Kennebec offers unique deep water access in protected river isolation. As such, the Kennebec serves as a conduit for the largest river system in Maine. The water quality is sufficient to provide extensive wildlife support and is particularly renown for its bluefish and striper runs. Traveling the Kennebec, which is unimpeded from Popham to Augusta, remains a special experience where the viewer can still experience sparse or no areas of development and where there exist a myriad of recreation and development opportunities. The Kennebec flows through and out of Merrymeeting Bay. Fourteen miles in length, the Bay has been identified as being one of the most critical marine estuarine systems in the Northeast. The Bay fulfills an important link in the food chain for the Gulf of Maine and Great Georges Bank. Like the Kennebec, much of Merrymeeting Bay and its environs remain undeveloped, providing a very special experience to the visitor who may hunt, fish or sail within its confines. Bath, from a land mass perspective, is one of the smallest communities in Sagadahoc County. Consisting of just over 6,000 acres, it makes up only about 4% of the region's land area. Surrounding Bath are rural communities which have only recently begun to experience growth and development. Further to the west lies Brunswick and Topsham and to the east, Wiscasset. All are communities that have experienced some development in recent years, but still offer unique rural experiences. The City can be described as a series of rolling hills which form steps as one moves west towards West Bath and Brunswick. Its geologic makeup is typified by marine clays and sand toward the northern portion of Bath at the surface underlain by ledge at varying depths. Average elevation of the area is 70 ft. above sea level. Development restrictions have been offset through the availability of water and sewer in most areas of the community. Dining *Beale Street Barbeque & Grill *Byrnes Irish Pub *Cafe Creme *Five Islands Lobster Co. & Grill *Gilmores Seafood *Maine Seafood *Kennebec Tavern & Marina *Mae's Cafe and Bakery *Mario's Pizza *MaryEllenZ Caffe *Mateo's Hacienda *Pizza and More *Riverside Sport Pub *Teresa's TOGO *The Home *The Bounty Restaurant and Taverne *The Cabin Restaurant *The New Meadows Inn *The Sandwich Shop *YUM-MEE Chinese Restaurant External Links http://www.cityofbath.com/index.html